Fishers attend State of the Union

During last night’s State of the Union address Brandon and Julie Fisher were among Michelle Obama’s guests in the First Lady’s Box.

Brandon Fisher is the president of Berlin-based Center Rock Inc. — the company that manufactured the drill bits used to rescue 33 trapped Chilean miners last fall.

“It is an honor to be invited by President Obama and the First Lady to attend the State of the Union address and to be recognized for Center Rock’s contribution of our drilling expertise and innovative mine rescue technology to a true humanitarian effort that saved all 33 Chilean miners,” Brandon Fisher said. “We are very proud of our entire Center Rock team and share this honor with them.”

This is the second Presidential trip the Fishers have made. In October they were invited along with other Americans involved in the mine rescue to visit the White House.

“I want to extend my congratulations to the Fishers for this unique opportunity to take part in a historic moment like tonight’s State of the Union address,” U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster said. “The entire Center Rock team are fantastic representatives of Somerset County, Pennsylvania and the United States on the world stage thanks to their contributions to the rescue effort in Chile. I congratulate them and welcome them to Washington, D.C.”

Julie Fisher said the White House first called on Friday to ask permission to quote Brandon in the president’s speech, and he agreed. Julie Fisher said she wasn’t sure what quote the president would be using.

The Fishers will join a Philadelphia-area high school student, Brandon Ford, and others in the box. Ford had been invited to the White House in September along with three other students from the West Philly Hybrid X Team, a finalist in the international Automotive X Prize contest for fuel-efficient cars. They were to attend an event with the president stressing the importance of math and science education. But he forgot his ID card and was not able to enter the White House.